Matt Morgan
enters the Towson game ...
• 15 points from 2,000 (second player at Cornell, sixth in Ivy history to hit that mark).
• 43 points shy of the Cornell career scoring record and moving into the top five in Ivy League history.
• one free throw from owning the Cornell record (currently tied with Louis Jordan '59 with 435).

Projected starting lineup:
Morgan(g), Davis(g), Boeheim(f), Warren(f), and Julian(f) (this starting five first played together against Johnson & Wales)

Hard to argue with moving Jimmy into the starting line-up; he was playing starter minutes anyway and is on the floor in the closing moments of close games. He was already a starter in all but name.

Davis feels a bit more like "gotta try something," though I guess the Big Red did start playing better after he became a starter last season. Hard to believe a career 38% shooter (from inside the arc) is the key to a better offense, but you have to do whatever you can to maximize your last 15 games with Matt.

Morgan had a career high in points and finished as the 6th player in league history to go over 2,000 points. He is now at 2,023 and within 5 points of Ryan Whitman as Cornell's all-time leading scorer. He also moved into second place on the Ivy League's career 3-point field goal list (291), surpassing Harvard's Laurent Rivard. He is still 86 behind Wittman.

Rare that you see the light switch get turned "on" so dramatically in a game. Fifteen minutes in, Morgan was stuck at 2 points and Cornell trailed by 7. Ten minutes later, Matt was on pace to tie his career high and the blow out was on. Also, Warren is playing about as well as we have any reason to hope he can play.

As for Davis, I agree he's fast and a good defender. But I laugh a little when Eric or Barry make that "microwave man" comment; Joel has reached double figures only three times midway through his senior year and he's only scored 6 points in 12 games.

Still, it's not like Whiteside or McBride were making a solid case that they should stay in the stating rotation, so I have no issue with trying Joel and seeing if the chemistry is better.

That said, I’m wondering what the heck Cornel does without him next year?!? As far as I can tell without following very closely, Brian Earl’s recruiting has been, um, not as good as it needs to be (seems even Dartmouth is recruiting better).

Do you guys still have another message board or did that die off when people were silly and didn’t migrate here?

As far as I can tell without following very closely, Brian Earl’s recruiting has been, um, not as good as it needs to be

I've been thinking this for a while myself. I had anticipated he would be a very good recruiter. I wonder if having been associated with Princeton is a liability because of the perception of slower offense.

From what I can tell, Cornell has 2 players in place for next fall - 6' 7" PF Marcus Filien from Albany (at Andover this year) and 6' 5" SG Jordan Jones from LA (at Exeter this year). They were in the running for 6' 9" PF Nobal Days of Racine, and looked to be the front runner over Wisconsin and Tulane, but he ultimately chose Tulane.

It seems that Earl, like Henderson, keeps most of the recruiting close to the vest. Where most of the teams have these long lists of offers on sites like Verbal Commits, Cornell mostly has postings once a player has committed.

It is really hard to know what is going to happen next year. I would expect Warren, Boeheim and McBride to start. Maybe Kuhn moves to the SG spot, one of the two JUCOs or Voss plays the other forwards position and Boeheim moves to the wing. While the offense will not be as productive or efficient without Morgan, the team may have to start to be more defined by its defense.

The recruiting thing is a mystery. Both the men and women seem behind the rest of the league.

While it is debatable what Earl has done to improve Morgan, he certainly has featured him enough to assist him to become one of the league's all-time scoring greats. Also, he helped Stone Getting immensely, enough to allow him the opportunity to be a major factor for Arizona, and is now bringing out the best in Josh Warren.

My guesses on the recruiting problem:
Location
Financial Aid
School commitment to the basketball program (compared to hockey and wrestling)

I’m wondering what the heck Cornel does without him next year?!? As far as I can tell without following very closely, Brian Earl’s recruiting has been, um, not as good as it needs to be (seems even Dartmouth is recruiting better).

We re-watch our tapes of the 2010 team?

Earl's recruiting is concerning. If you include Julian, his first class was okay-ish. Julian does his thing, Boeheim is a nice role player with some upside, McBride and Kuhn have some potential; there's no star, but there are some guys who can help you fill out a rotation.

It's early, but I doubt anyone in the league would trade freshman classes with us. Yeah, Harshany has been hurt and Dickson is a project, so it could improve, but no one is getting meaningful minutes. When the class includes 2 JUCOs, that's a problem. Similarly, maybe one or both of next year's recruits turns to be a late-bloomer (Jones did lose all of his 8th and 9th grade years to illness), but Cornell sure looks like it has the 8th best class this year too.

I think Earl does a fine job of coaching, but if he doesn't have the players it won't matter.

My thoughts exactly and it is odd because I figured Earl would be a good recruiter. That was the impression I got from the Princeton fans and some were bummed to lose him for that reason. It just hasn't manifested itself at Cornell yet from what I've seen, which is a little surprising.

Though Mr. Earl seems to have done as well in his first
two and one-half years in Ithaca as Steve Donahue did in the early part of his tenure there- recruiting and otherwise; and I do believe that Donahue would have to be seen as one viable yardstick.

Edited by AntiUngvar on 01-11-19 07:53 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.